Window assemblies which are pre-assembled prior to installation are widely used in motor vehicle manufacture and other applications. Pre-assembly of the glazing unit for simple insertion into a recessed window opening in a vehicle body during vehicle assembly has been found to yield substantial cost and quality advantages. Such window assemblies intended for use as rear windows for pickup truck cabs, for example, typically include a frame holding one or more fixed panes and a slidable pane. In the past, windows assemblies have had an undesirably bulky appearance poorly integrated into the exterior surface of the vehicle or other structure. Exemplary of known window assemblies are those shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,191 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,003,916, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
It is an object of the present invention to provide improved multi-pane window assemblies. It is a particular object of at least certain embodiments to provide multi-pane modular window assemblies having fixed and slidably mounted panes and presenting a substantially flush overall appearance. Additional objects and advantages of the multi-pane window assemblies disclosed here will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following disclosure.